Freetown — The All People’s Congress (APC) Strategic Communications Unit has rejected allegations that former President Ernest Bai Koroma is orchestrating internal divisions and recent legal actions within the main opposition party.
In a statement titled “Former President Ernest Bai Koroma, a Pacesetter Who Led the APC with Distinct Leadership,” the unit described the claims as unfair and dismissed suggestions that Koroma is working to undermine the party from within.
It portrayed the former leader as a statesman who made significant sacrifices for the APC and Sierra Leone, and rejected efforts to link him to recent court proceedings and resignations as attempts to create scapegoats rather than confront the party’s challenges.
The unit credited Koroma with transforming the APC during his decade as party leader and president (2007–2018), highlighting progress in infrastructure, healthcare, institutional development and national peace.
It reaffirmed that he remains a loyal member committed to the party’s unity, progress and eventual return to power, concluding: “He built the APC. He will not break the APC.” The statement also called for unity, discipline and respect for the party constitution as the APC navigates its current difficulties.
Koroma, who led Sierra Leone from 2007 to 2018, has long been a central figure in the APC. In recent years the party has faced repeated internal legal battles over leadership legitimacy, constitutional compliance and the conduct of delegates’ conferences. Court cases involving reform groups and individual members have led to injunctions restraining executives from certain activities, orders dissolving or questioning the status of national bodies, and disputes over interim arrangements pending national conferences.
Separately, Koroma faced high-profile treason and related charges linked to a November 2023 attempted coup in Freetown. He consistently denied involvement. After a period under house arrest and subsequent medical exile in Nigeria facilitated by ECOWAS, Sierra Leone’s government discontinued the proceedings in July 2026 on health grounds. Koroma expressed gratitude to President Julius Maada Bio, Nigerian President Bola Tinubu and ECOWAS, stressing the importance of peace, justice and reconciliation.
The Strategic Communications Unit’s defence comes amid ongoing tensions within the APC as it seeks to resolve leadership questions, hold internal elections and prepare for future national contests.
